With the help of new ad agency DDB New York, Subaru first sought to come up with a way to describe their existing customer base.
One of the things Subaru wanted to change was their previous niche marketing strategy, where they deliberately targeted half a dozen distinct groups.
“We turned the glass the other way,” Crosson said, asking themselves, “what do these six groups have in common?”
The brainstorming process resulted in a new coinage, “inspired pragmatists,” that Subaru feels describes the common thread running through their current audience.
What Subaru’s “inspired pragmatists” have in common are the following: a sense of community, commitment to the environment, and a love of travel and adventure. What this list demonstrated to Subaru executives was that it not only described the kinds of things people did, but also represented a set of shared emotional values.
Crosson said that with the previous advertising methods that focused directly on lifestyle, Subaru communicated their messages to about 33 million potential customers.
But Subaru also determined, after looking at their new definition of “inspired pragmatists,” that they were missing a chance to communicate with another huge chunk of the car buying public.
By previously focusing on what people did, in their lives and in their Subaru’s, the company realized they were missing the chance to speak to a larger audience that shared similar views on the world and their place in it.
“There’s 14 million people we weren’t reaching,” Crosson said, adding their research begged the question: “Could we position our products to make them more relevant not only to their lifestyles but to their values?”